Blind Stealing

[Bonghead]

Any tips for when it appropriate to steal blinds (and antes) in PO tournaments?

I mean obviously in the later stages the blinds have a lot of weight, but I also don't want to be called if I have to flip for my tournament or whatever if I don't need to and seeing flops becomes ugly. When I'm unsure, I usually just fold, but I play too nitty late and usually fold away my stack as it is.

All about the table, players and reads you have on them.. If in a tourney.. ask yourself.. what do I have to do to get this blind? Is it worth it? Do I really Need the chips? Will this player actually fold if I raise? Are there antes involved? how many more blinds do I have? What position are you in? Will you have to act first after the flop if called? What will I do after the flop if I miss? Can I outplay this person or is he a calling station? Have I seen this players cards at least 1 time to know if hes a Gibraltar ( person who only plays top prime hands. AA KK AK maybe QQ) or not? Is this player tight or lose? Has he been winning a lot in the past 30 min? Is the pot worth trying to steal? What kind of table image to I have? Loose? Tight? Of course having a tight image works much better for steals deep in games with higher blinds/antes. Do I have outs if I shove and Blinds have AA and KK? Meaning can I get a str8 and Flush? Or just a flush? Does it have to be a 4 card flush or 3 card? Same with str8. I may just think how many possibilities do I have if I am called? and Will this criple me if he/she/it does call and hits? Am I going to have to fire all 3 barrels? How much can I bet knowing I will probably miss? Is my table image appropriate for trying to steal blinds at this time/lvl of the game? How many times have I tried to steal already? This is some of the things I think of when attempting to steal. Of course there are many more things to think about but this will at least make u think for a sec before you try stealing blinds to try and judge if this is a moment that you can steal them.